"Mama! Mama!"
The little girl ran towards a golden wheat field in front of her house, arms askew in a crazed run.
"Maamaaaaa!!!"
She stopped running, stopping beside a slim brunette woman who was surveying the field in a happy silence, her red apron flapping in the warm breeze.
"Veronique! What did I tell you about coming out here alone?"
The woman ruffled the child's hair.
"Lets go back inside. It's almost time for dinner."
Veronique plopped down on the warn wooden chair, little fingers tracing old lines in the rickety kitchen table. Her mother was busy peeling potatoes at the sink, humming a little tune. A bird chirped outside, and the gentle wind tousled the curtains in the kitchen window.
"I am so happy," thought the young girl, sighing with a comfortable smile. "I could fall asleep.."
Her eyes closed slowly, and she lay her head down gently on the table.
The girl was sound asleep when her mother shook her urgently.
"Veronique!" she exclaimed, still trying to whisper, "You must hide!"
The girl sat up with a start, mind racing.
"What is it, mama?" She stood, clutching her mom's apron.
"There are bad men outside the door." The young woman looked swiftly over her shoulder as the banging on the fragile front door grew louder and more frequent.
"Veronique, hide, NOW!" The woman gently shoved the girl toward a closet, managing just to get the door shut as the men burst in. The child peeked out from a slat in the closet door.
"Well, well, well. What do we have here, laddies?" A black man with an eyepatch said. The girl could smell the alcohol fumes radiating from him even from her hiding place.
He took a step toward the girl's mother.
"A nice young lassie, all alone!" He chuckled evilly, looking back to the three other men with him.
One was obviously a doctor; the medical kit strapped to his back was a dead giveaway. The other two were some kind of expendable infantry; the usual sort, with militairy issue helmets, fatigues, everything a soldier would need. All of them were dressed in blue.
"What do you want with me?" Veronique's mother asked, boldly. Her reply was a sharp smack from the black man.
"I'll do the talkin', lass. Now, ye wouldn't happen to have a bit a food around here, would ye?" His smile froze, hate burning in his one brown eye. The woman stared right back, narrowing her eyes.
"None for you, BLU." She spat the last word like poison from her tongue. The dark hand of the BLU leader connected sharply with the woman's face, her neck cracking sharply to the side. She fell to the floor and didn't stir. He laughed heartily.
"All talk! Thats what she was!" The group chuckled heartily, when one of the soldiers piped up.
"Can we have some fun with her, boss? Bet she's still warm." Both soldiers smiled widely at this suggestion.
"Nein." The doctor spoke for the first time. His face remained impassive as he spoke, receiving glares from his teammates.
Before things got out of hand though, their leader responded:
"Aye, the doc's right. Dun know what diseases she's got anyhow." He nodded.
"Search the place! Take what ya can, and make it quick! We ain't got all day!"
With that, the BLUs tore the little country house apart. But even so, they never discovered the little brown haired girl in the closet...